CENTREVILLE — Therese McComb never went an entire day without talking to her daughter.

That all changed April 26, McComb testified Thursday in St. Joseph County Circuit Court, the last time she saw Venus Stewart.

“Has she called you since?” St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough asked McComb during the testimony in the trial of Doug Stewart, Venus Stewart's estranged husband, who is charged with murder in Venus Stewart's death.

“No,” McComb replied, holding back tears.

McComb said she last saw her daughter the morning of April 26 when she gave Stewart a kiss as McComb left for work. Later that day, McComb said she rushed home after receiving a call from her husband, Larry McComb, that Venus was missing.

“She was my best friend,” McComb said of her 32-year-old daughter. “We had a lot in common … We didn't go a day without talking to each other.”

McComb was the last witness to testify Thursday in St. Joseph County Circuit Court as the second day of Doug Stewart's trial wrapped up. He is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder in connection with the April 26 abduction and slaying of Venus Stewart.

Prosecutors allege Doug Stewart, who is being held in the St. Joseph County Jail on $4 million cash/surety bond, abducted his wife outside her parents' home, killed her and disposed of her body.

Michigan State Police investigators have said they believe Venus Stewart is dead although they have not located her body.

Therese McComb told McDonough during her testimony that her daughter was a doting mother who lived for her two daughters. But when asked by McDonough if her daughter's marriage to Stewart was a “happy” union, McComb replied simply with “No.”

Before McComb took the stand Thursday, her husband, Larry McComb, testified that he was awakened the morning of April 26 by the his the barks of one of his dogs outside his bedroom window. He said he went back to sleep after the dog stopped barking but was woken up again a short time later by his two granddaughters who were playing in the living room of his home.

McComb said he wondered to himself why his daughter was letting her children make so much noise and got up to check on things.

Larry McComb said he searched his home and checked with a next-door neighbor hoping to find his daughter but was not able to locate her. He said his daughter's purse, phone, wallet and other items were still at his residence.

“It was like she just vanished into thin air,” Larry McComb said.

McComb said he called his wife and then went searching for his daughter. He then returned home and dialed 911 to report Venus Stewart missing, he said.

He also said during his testimony that he noticed outside his home that rocks he had straightened up just the day before were disturbed. He also found a hair tie on the sidewalk leading up to his home and he noticed plastic packaging under his pontoon boat that had not been there previously.

State Police Trooper Todd Petersen testified earlier in the trial that the packaging was for an all-purpose tarp marketed by Walmart stores.

Larry McComb also told jurors Thursday that Doug Stewart had called his home the night before Venus disappeared to speak with the Stewarts' daughters.

McComb said other family members were able to hear Doug Stewart's conversation with his two daughters and McComb recalled during his testimony that Stewart asked his daughters' questions about their plans for the next day with their mother and he also asked them where Frank, the McCombs' Doberman Pinscher, slept.

Courtesy PhotoVenus Stewart

Larry McComb said Doug Stewart's calls to his daughters were a nightly occurrence. But he said Stewart did not call the McCombs' residence the night of April 26.

Testimony in the case is scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

The prosecution's key witness in the case, Ricky Spencer, is expected to take the stand after the lunch hour.

Spencer is Doug Stewart's alleged accomplice in the murder of Venus Stewart, police have said.

He testified in July at Stewart's preliminary examination that he acted as Stewart's impostor in Newport News, Va., where Doug Stewart resided, while Stewart traveled to Michigan to kill Venus Stewart.